PORTFOLIO
Star-Bulletin chief photographer Dean Sensui mixed his skill with photography and and his love of tinkering with technology in these light-hearted composites, which he created for friends and family. In the accompanying captions, he explains how he carefully created the images. What in the world ...
By Dean Sensui
dsensui@starbulletin.com
Dean Sensui's composite of Kory and Darren Aoki on the Moon with Buzz Aldrin: "Some friends wanted something 'out of this world' for a Christmas card, and a photo from NASA provided the perfect backdrop. After studying the lighting of the original image, the couple was photographed in a studio to simulate the same kind of light which illuminated the astronaut. Other details were added later, such as the beer cans, the 12-pack and a touch of dust on their feet. One other important finishing touch was getting Darren's reflection in the spacesuit's visor."
This scene was created for a card design for the Vadset family: "I came up with this scenario of a 1-year-old riding a scooter down Wilhemena Rise with his family in hot pursuit. Obviously, letting any kid do this in real life would be out of the question. In the original shot, mom Rhonda, and sister Randi, are firmly holding onto the scooter. They're carefully removed from the shot by replacing them with the original background scene. They're added to the finished scene later, along with dad, James, making a desperate dive for Keoni."
"To add my wife, Mary, and myself into this scene from the movie "Toy Story," the first step was to determine the perspective and lighting. Once the photos were taken, the compositing process meant separating a variety of elements to insert us into the photo. I had to match colors and layer elements so that we're behind the car and appear to be hanging onto things in the scene (Buzz Lightyear's transparent dome is drawn in by hand over Mary's blouse) and adding some motion blur effects to match the sense of movement in the original shot."
Artists and photographers are invited to submit portfolios of their work. Send photocopied samples to Portfolio, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813; or email jpeg images to features@starbulletin.com
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